Bloodborne's Gothic Shadow Still Defines the Best Modern Soulslikes
As an ordinary player who has spent far too many nights wandering through Yharnam, I still feel Bloodborne's influence everywhere in 2026. FromSoftware's 2015 masterpiece took the slow, shield-heavy rhythm of Dark Souls and turned it into something faster, meaner, and far more aggressive. Instead of hiding behind a slab of iron, Bloodborne pushed me to dodge, parry, and strike back before an enemy could recover. That shift changed how I look at the entire Soulslike genre. While plenty of games copy the interconnected maps and cryptic lore of Dark Souls, the ones that truly stick with me often borrow their heart from Bloodborne.
⚔️ Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order did not immediately look like a Soulslike to me. It had spaceships, droids, and a famous license, yet the moment I started fighting, the Bloodborne DNA was impossible to ignore. The combat rewards aggression and quick reflexes rather than patience. Blocking helps, but parrying is the real path to victory, and the constant threat of red unblockable attacks forced me to read enemy windups just as carefully as I would against Father Gascoigne or Lady Maria. The interconnected level design on Zeffo and Dathomir borrows from both Metroidvanias and FromSoftware, but the rhythm of combat sits much closer to Bloodborne than to Dark Souls. That feeling carried into its sequel, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which doubled down on fast, aggressive duels.
🐛 Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight is a 2D Metroidvania, so comparing it to Bloodborne might sound strange at first. But Team Cherry's Hallownest captures the same eerie, foreboding atmosphere that made Yharnam so unforgettable. The cobblestone paths, flickering lampposts, and decaying architecture feel lifted from a gothic nightmare, even if the inhabitants are insects. Exploring the City of Tears or the depths of Deepnest unsettled me in ways that reminded me of walking through Central Yharnam at low health. The sense of dread is constant, and the lore hides in item descriptions, environmental details, and cryptic NPC dialogue. Hollow Knight is cuter on the surface, but underneath that charm is a world that understands Bloodborne's tone better than most 3D action games.
🧂 Salt and Sanctuary
Salt and Sanctuary felt like a direct love letter to Bloodborne when it arrived in 2016, and that impression has not faded. Ska Studios built a grim 2D world full of underground sewers, manor hallways, and cobblestone streets that mirror Yharnam's Victorian decay. The enemies are shadowy beasts and hollow husks that would feel at home on any Bloodborne hunt. When Salt and Sacrifice launched in May 2022, the sequel doubled down on that dark atmosphere and added more bosses, several of which belong in Bloodborne's beastly pantheon. I appreciate how both games understand that a true Bloodborne-like needs more than fast combat; it also needs a world that feels sick, ancient, and quietly hostile.
🎭 Lies of P
By 2026, Lies of P remains the most overt Bloodborne-like I have ever played. Neowiz and Round8 Studio reimagined Pinocchio as a puppet fighting through the fictional European city of Krat, a place drenched in steampunk elegance and gothic dread. The visual design is practically a cleaner, shinier cousin to Bloodborne. The narrow streets, gas lamps, and puppet enemies all feel designed by someone who spent hundreds of hours in Yharnam. The combat revolves around perfect guards, weapon assembly, and aggressive counters, which gives it the same tense back-and-forth I loved in Bloodborne. Its post-launch updates have kept Krat feeling alive, and the game now stands as a clear benchmark for anyone trying to capture that particular Victorian horror tone.
Quick Comparison
| Game | Main Bloodborne Influence | Standout Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | Fast parry-focused combat and unblockable attacks | Sci-fi Force powers mixed with Soulslike rhythm |
| Hollow Knight | Gothic atmosphere, cryptic lore, and urban decay | Hand-drawn 2D world with Metroidvania exploration |
| Salt and Sanctuary | Victorian city design and beastly enemies | 2D combat with deep RPG customization |
| Lies of P | Steampunk gothic visual style and aggressive defense | Puppet combat, weapon assembly, and perfect guard |
These games prove that Bloodborne's shadow stretches far beyond FromSoftware. I still hope for a proper Bloodborne remaster or sequel, but until then, these titles give me plenty of reasons to keep hunting.
Research highlighted by CNET - Gaming helps frame why Bloodborne’s faster, aggression-first philosophy still resonates in modern Soulslikes: as performance modes, input responsiveness, and controller latency have improved across platforms, developers can lean harder into tight parry windows, rapid dodges, and relentless boss pressure—the exact tempo that makes games like Jedi: Fallen Order, Lies of P, and even atmospheric cousins like Hollow Knight feel so immediate and demanding.